Device for controlling the movement of water into and out of the wet wells of fishing boats



Sept. 18, 1962 H. D. JONES, JR.. ETAL DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE MOVEMENT OF WATER INTO AND OUT OF THE WET WELLS 0F FISHING BOATS Filed June 15, 1961 I NVENTORS EDWIN R. STURDIVANT BY HAROLD D. JONES,JR.

ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 18, 1962 ice 3,054,374 DEVICE FOR (IDNTROLLING THE MOVEMENT 9F WATER INTG AND GUT F THE WET WELLS 0F FISHING BOATS Harold D. Jones, 1431 Candler Bldg, Atlanta 3, Ga, and Edwin R. Sturdivant, Decatur, Ga. (2751 A&M, San Angelo, Tex.)

Filed June 15, 1961, Ser. No. 117,327 2 Claims. (Cl. 114-198) This invention relates to a device for controlling the movement of fluid, and more particularly to a device which will permit the entry of water into the wet well of a stationary fishing boat, but which will prevent such water from being drawn from the wet well when the fishing boat is under way.

Many rowboats and other vessels used for fishing are equipped with a wet well in which is kept live bait to be used in the course of the days fishing. Generally, a wet well consists of little more than a box having the bottom of the boat as its bottom and into which water flows through holes in that portion of the boats bottom which is the bottom of the wet wall. This arrangement provides a convenient means for obtaining a box of water in which live bait can be kept and in which the water will remain fresh and free from odor because of the gradual exchange of water between the wet well and the water surrounding the boat. The great difficulty with these wet wells, in spite of their many advantages, is that when the boat is under way, the suction of the water moving along the bottom of the boat tends to draw the water from the wet well with the result that the wet well is emptied of water and the live bait is killed.

The invention described herein completely eliminates this difiiculty since it permits the normal and usual initial entry of water into the wet well and the gradual exchange of such water with the water surrounding the boat while the boat is stationary, but will prevent the drawing of water from the wet well when the boat is under way. Moreover, since the holes customarily drilled in the bottoms of boats for wet wells generally lack uniformity as to cross section, the device is readily adaptable to a variety of sizes and shapes of holes. In addition, since fishing boats are frequently removed from water and since water trapped in a wet well will increase weight of a boat, the device is arranged so that it can be positioned to permit the draining of water through the holes in the wet well when the boat is removed from the water. Therefore, the invention described herein provides a convenient and effective way to obtain the normal and usual filling of a wet well with water through holes of various sizes in the bottom of a boat and the exchange of water in the wet well with the water surrounding the boat when the boat is stationary without the difliculty of having the water withdrawn from the wet well when the boat is under way while at the same time permitting withdrawal or draining of the water from the wet well to occur when the boat is removed from the water or when this is otherwise desir-able.

These and other features of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings in which like characters designate corresponding parts in all figures and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational View of the water control device mounted on the bottom of a boat shown in cross section and having a wet well hole and shows the ball in position to permit the flow of water into and out of the wet well.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the water control device taken in line 2-2 in FIGURE 1 and shows the water control device mounted on the bottom of a boat with its chamber generally concentric with a wet well hole in the bottom of the boat.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of the water control device taken in line '33 in FIGURE 2 and shows the water control device in substantially the same position as shown in FIGURE 1, but with the ball in position to prevent the flow of water from the wet well.

These figures and the following detailed description disclose a preferred specific embodiment of the invention, but the invention is not limited to the details disclosed since it may be embodied in other equivalent forms.

The device described herein is comprised of a circular seating surface 10 having a hole 11 in its center which is closed when a buoyant ball 12 is positioned against the circular seating surface 10 with the center of the ball 12 approximately in the center line of the hole 11 in the circular heating surface 10. The hole 11 in the circular seating surface 10 is the upper end of a channel 13 extending from the circular seating surface 10 to the bottom 14 of the boat. At its lower end 15, the channel 13 completely surrounds a wet well hole 16. Thus, when the buoyant ball 12 is seated against the circular seating surface 10 and closes the hole 11 which is the upper end of the channel 13, movement of water in the channel 13 and into and out of the wet well hole 16 surrounded by the lower end 15 of the channel 13 is efiectively restricted. Moreover, since the buoyant ball 12 engages only the circular seating surface 10 and closes a hole 11 of predetermined and uniform size and since the channel 13 is sufficiently large in diameter to surround wet well holes 16 having a wide range of diameters and configurations, this means of controlling the movement of water through wet well holes 16 is substantially independent of the size and configuration of the particular wet well hole 16 with which the device is associated.

From the foregoing, it is readily apparent that when a boat equipped with the water control device is stationary in the water, water will enter the Wet well hole 16 and the channel 13 and float the buoyant ball 12 away from the seating surface It) at the upper end of the channel 13 so that water can flow into the wet well in the same manner as if the Water control device were not in position adjacent to the wet well hole 16. It is also apparent that once water has filled the wet well, the buoyant ball 12 will continue to float away from the seating surface 10 at the upper end of the channel 13 to permit a gradual exchange between the water in the wet well and the water surrounding the boat to occur. It is only when water is drawn from the wet well through the channel 13 and out of the wet well hole 16 by the motion of the boat that the flow of water in the wet well is of sufficient magnitude and in the proper direction to move the buoyant ball 12 toward the hole 11 at the upper end of the channel 13 and close it. However, this is exactly the action which is required to prevent the removal of water from the wet well when the boat is under way.

In order to maintain the buoyant ball 12 in position so that it will be drawn toward the seating surface 19 at the upper end of the channel 13 when suction at the wet well hole 16 tends to empty the wet well, a cage comprised of four semi-flexible straps 17 extending from the cylinder 18 within which the channel 13 is formed and joined above the hole 11 in the seating surface 10 is provided. These straps 17 are ninety degrees apart around the circumference 22 of the seating surface 10 and provide a cavity in which the buoyant ball 12 is trapped, but can float at a distance sufliciently far from the seating surface 10 to permit the flow of water for filling the wet well and for the exchange of Water in the wet well in the manner already described. However, the cage keeps the buoyant ball 12 sufficiently close to the seating surface 10 for the buoyant ball 12 to be quickly and eifectively drawn toward the seating surface 10 in order to close the hole 11 in the seating surface 10 when suction is created at the wet well hole 16 by the motion of the boat. The position of the water control device with reference to a wet well hole 16 is maintained by using a flange 19 extending from the cylinder 18 and through which bolts 20 are inserted into the bottom 14 of the boat.

In order to prevent the ball 12 from seating itself on the seating surface 10 when it is desired to have the motion of the boat Withdraw Water from the wet well or when the boat is removed from the water and it is desired to have the water in the wet well drain through the wet well hole 16, an arm 21 is rotatably mounted adjacent to the seating surface 10 on the upper end of the cylinder 18. This arm 21 is rotatable from a position more or less tangent to the outer circumference 22 of the seating surface 10 into a position in which one end 23 of the arm 21 extends toward the center of the hole 11 in the seating surface 10 and in which it will engage the underside 24 of the ball 12 as the ball 12 moves toward the seating surface 10 and prevent the ball 12 from seating itself on the circular seating surface 10. When the arm 21 is in this latter position, Water will flow under all conditions between the buoyant ball 12 and the circular seating surface 10 through the hole 11 in the circular seating surface 10 and in or out of the wet well hole 16. Accidental rotation of the arm 21 into the position in which it will prevent the buoyant ball 12 from seating itself on the circular seating surface 10 is prevented by constructing the end 24 of the arm 21 whichrdoes not engage the ball 12 in such a manner that it must be forcibly pushed from engagement with one of the semiflexible straps 17 in order for the arm 21 to be moved from its tangent position. Moreover, proper positioning of the arm 21 so that it is in position to prevent seating of the ball 12 against the seating surface 10 is insured by providing two pegs 25 over which the arm 21 can be rotated, but which will nevertheless hold the arm 21 between them with one end 23 extending toward the center of the hole 11 in the seating surface 10.

From the foregoing, it is readily apparent that the device described herein provides a convenient means for the normal entry of water into the wet Well of a boat and for the normal exchange of water between the wet well and the surrounding water, but which will automatically prevent the withdrawal of water when the boat is under way while at the same time permitting its withdrawal if this is desired. As such, the water control device provides a highly useful improvement in the wet wells commonly used with many fishing boats.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for controlling the flow of water through a hole in the bottom of a boat comprising, in combination,

a hollow cylinder having an inside diameter, an upper end, and a lower end which is fixedly engaged to the bottom of the boat in a position such that the extension of the hollow cylinder through the bottom of the boat would enclose that portion of the bottom of the boat having the hole; a seating surface concentric with and attached to the upper end of the hollow cylinder and having a circumference; a plurality of straps, each having one end fixedly positioned adjacent to the circumference of the seating surface at one of a plurality of points equidistantly located around the circumference oftthe seating surface, each having its other end joined to the same end of all other straps at a point more remote from the bottom of the boat than the upper end of the hollow cylinder, and each having a portion which extends in a direction generally perpendicular to the bottom of the boat; an arm rotatably positioned adjacent to the seating surface and rotatable between two adjacent straps into a position in which an extending end extends above the seating surface, the other end of said arm having a notch which engages one of the plurality of straps when the arm is rotated into a position in which the extending end does not extend above the seating surface; two pegs located adjacent to the seating surface in a position so that the arm is between them when the extending end of the arm extends above the seating surfaces; and a ball buoyant in water and freely movable within the space enclosed by the plurality of straps and the seating surface, said ball having a diameter greater than the inside diameter of the hollow cylinder.

2. A device for controlling the flow of water through a hole in the bottom of a boat comprising, in combination, a hollow cylinder having an inside diameter, an upper end, and a lower end which is fixedly engaged to the bottom of the boat in a position such that the extension of the hollow cylinder through the bottom of the boat would enclose that portion of the bottom of the boat having the hole; a seating surface surrounding the upper end of the hollow cylinder; a plurality of straps, each having a portion which extends in a direction generally perpendicular to the bottom of the boat; an arm rotatably positioned adjacent to the seating surface and rotatable between two adjacent straps into a position in which an extending end extends above the seating surface, the other end of said arm having a notch which engages one of the plurality of straps when the arm is rotated into a position in which the extending end does not extend above the seating surface; and a ball buoyant in water and freely movable within the space enclosed by the plurality of straps and the seating surface, said ball having a diameter greater than the inside diameter of the hollow cylinder.-

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 835,854 Franquist' Nov. 13, 1906 FOREIGN PATENTS 7 160,005 Australia June 3, 1954 

